Our cat had FHO surgery a couple years ago. He was very young too - probably around the same age (we had recently adopted him and they thought he was a little over one year old). We woke up one morning and he wasn't walking. We thought he must have sprained something during the night but we took him to the vet to get checked. An xray showed he had broken his femur and needed FHO surgery. We were stunned.

We went ahead with the surgery and hoped for the best. He did very, very well. We had to keep him quiet for a couple of weeks and then we had to encourage him to move around. I am happy to say he did great and made pretty much a full recovery.

Unless you knew he had this surgery you probably wouldn't realize that anything was different about him because the differences are so subtle. He walks slightly on a slant and when he goes to lay down he sort of collapses halfway down. We notice but no one else ever has.

The good news is that he never appeared to be in any pain after FHO surgery. He was on painkillers after the surgery of course but I don't think he was ever in pain or hurting in any way after surgery. He made an excellent recovery and doesn't ever seem uncomfortable.

My thoughts are with you (I know how you are feeling). Please let me know how your dog is doing - I wish her the best.

Renee: Thank you so much for your response. I appreciate your encouragement. Sounds like your kitty did so well, I am proud for you. I hope Sissy does as well. I am really scared but we do have a wonderful vet and he has done many of these surgeries. The surgery sounds so brutal but we know she needs it. I hope she will get back to being an active little girl. I will let you know how she is doing later In the week. Thanks again

I will try to attach a picture of what Tango looked like (without his cone) when he came home so that you know what to expect. I have had problems posting pictures before so if this does not work I would be happy to email them to you if you send me a PM with your email address.

What a beautiful kitty. I see why you adopted him. My oh my, it looks pretty bad. Did you crate him for a length of time? Did you vet use stitches that had to be removed or did they dissolve? I may have more problems with the cone than anything. Hope you can post pics of Tango with his cone. Like you were, I am so scared as we love this little girl so much. We know this is the right thing to do but we sure dread it. I have read a lot on the internet about this surgery and seems they all go well. Thank you so much for being there for us. I appreciate you. I felt it important to hear from someone that has been through this type of surgery.

Thank you - Tango is a pretty boy. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him. :)

It does look bad but I don't think it was as bad as it looks for him. FHO surgery frees them from pain. Sometimes I wonder if it was harder on us.

We locked Tango in a small bathroom while he was recovering. The painkillers kept him him pretty quiet. Instead of closing the door we put a screen from a sliding glass door in front of the bathroom so he could see the other kitties but more so that we could see him. It was so sad to see him laying in there wearing a cone but we followed our vet's after-care instructions and he healed beautifully.

He had either dissolving stitches and/or glue - there was no need for the vet to remove stitches. He did go back once or twice for follow-up.

Please make sure you make her wear the cone. My SIL had a cyct removed from her dog's leg and was told to use a cone. She didn't make him wear it because "he hated it and wasn't bothering the wound". Less than a week later he tore the wound open, needed more stitches and it was infected.

After surgery recovery time it is important to make them move around to develop a "false joint". Dogs are much easier with this part of the process than cats because you can walk them but we didn't have much of a problem. Tango's mission was to get back in his cat tree - his favorite spot. We laid the tree down for a while and he climbed over it. Once we felt a little more comfortable we stood the tree back up - up he went (there are steps he did not climb a pole) and he has never looked back.

Well, Tango looks pretty relaxed with the cone. He is such a handsome guy. How old is Tango now? I am trying to attach a picture of Sissy. Sissy is the little black Brussels with our 13 year old Brussels, Squire. They are really good buddies. Thanking you so much for your help. Would it be okay if I have additional questions to post another question to you? "We love our pets like family, so we have to treat them like family"

Your dogs are ADORABLE - such sweet little faces!!! Our kitties are our family too!!

Tango wasn't thrilled with his cone but we made him wear it because it was doctor's orders. We took the cone off only when he ate or when we were right there with him. Plus I think the painkillers made him more mellow and he just got used to wearing it.

By all means feel free to ask me anything. I remember how terrified we were. We took Tango to the vet, had to leave him there and he had surgery the next morning. We thought we were dealing with a sprain - we were numb when we walked out of the vet's office without our baby. It would have helped us so much to talk to someone who went through the same thing. I have since discovered that FHO surgery is a fairly common surgery.

Tango had his surgery in September 2011 and is somewhere between three and four years old now.

Here is Tango in his cat tree with the kitten that we found just before Christmas. He considers Peanut Butter his kitten and wrestles and rolls around with her. He sometimes goes to the top of the six foot tree. He is happy and healthy and best of all pain-free. I wish the same for Sissy.

Fairly routine surgery even for general practitioners like myself... it is not 100% successful, but pretty darn near. I have done about 30 of them and no problems yet. Recovery is pretty fast since no bones to heal and minimal pain post operatively. They will limp for a few months though.

Thank you lzrddr for your comforting comments. I was very concerned about the recovery but you have made me feel better. Our vet tells me that this was a development issue with her as she was in no accident to get hurt. Do you agree?

gagesgranny - how is Sissy doing and how are you doing?

Renee-----how sweet of you to check on Sissy and me. Thank you so much. The first couple of days were really bad with Sissy. Then, she started using her leg now and then. We now can put her in the pool about 3 times a day and go for very short walks. It seems every day, she gets a little better. I do hope within a week, she is using the leg much better as she sure needs to develop those muscles. Hope I am doing the right things for her. She still takes a pain medication but only once a day now. I honestly think we are going to make it----Praise God

We noticed a little improvement every day with Tango. It was a slow but steady recovery. Sissy will make a lot of process in the coming weeks. She will walk funny and limp at first but don't despair. Sissy is young and strong and it is very early on in the healing process. If you are following instructions from your vet you are doing the right things for her. She will bounce back and one day this will all be a distant memory. Take care of yourself and remember if you are stressed, Sissy will be stressed too. Please keep me posted on her progress.

Hi gagesgranny - I was wondering how Sissy was doing. I hope she is doing well. Please post an update when you have a chance.